Social and academic embeddedness function as buffers against pandemic effects on schooling outcomes

Using a unique combination of student-level sociometric survey data and register data from the Netherlands, this study examines whether the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling outcomes is conditional on students’ academic and social embeddedness in the school setting. We estimate the impact of the pandemic on track recommendation and track enrollment with a counterfactual approach based on a comparison of cohorts. The estimated
pandemic effects are associated with survey information obtained right before the outbreak of the pandemic. Results show, first, that the pandemic effect on tracking outcomes is not very strong, and seems weaker than on student test scores in other publications. Nevertheless, second, the pandemic has especially hit disadvantaged students. Third, student self-efficacy, academic motivation, and parental involvement are important buffers against pandemic effects. The centrality of parents in the school network is not associated with the
size of the pandemic effect on schooling outcomes.